Ad revenue forecasts are out with GroupM India, dentsu and Madison World putting out reports. While figures vary, the trends are similar in all three. Digital is driving growth, powered by retail media.
GroupM India’s This Year Next Year (TYNY) report projects overall ad revenue of ₹1,55,386 crore in 2024, up a tad by ₹14,423 crore from 2023. While global adex is projected to grow 5.3 per cent to reach $936 billion, India’s 10.2 per cent growth will be the fastest, says the report, as it retains the eighth spot in terms of ad spends. General elections will spike ad spends. Digital, at 13 per cent growth, will drive overall ad revenue with a 57 per cent share. All other media combined will grow at 6.8 per cent. Nearly 70 per cent of incremental ad revenue growth will go to digital. E-commerce is expected to grow by 5 per cent.
The report underlines trends that may impact the marketing and media landscape, including the growing influence of gen-alpha on marketing strategies with tech-powered engagement, and voice and video-based interactive communication. It says 21 per cent of television homes, namely 45 million viewers, will be addressable in 2024.
Digital dive
The ‘dentsu Digital Report 2024’ forecasts CAGR of 9.86 per cent for Indian ad industry, reaching ₹1,12,453 crore by 2025. “Digital media has emerged as the dominant medium, now constituting 44 per cent of the total advertising expenditure, surpassing television,” it says.
Social media, online video, and paid search are at the forefront of digital media spending, it says. E-retail platform advertising also commands a huge share of the digital media market. According to Harsha Razdan, CEO South Asia, dentsu, “India’s digital revolution is sweeping across our lives, our industries, and our society. Artificial intelligence is the driving force, enabling our e-commerce market to reach $200 billion by 2026.”
Ad consumption
Pitch Madison Advertising report 2024 says there was 10 per cent adex growth in 2023, falling short of the projected 16 per cent. Traditional adex grew by 7 per cent and digital adex by 15 per cent. Increase in raw material prices in the first half of the year, the continuing Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas wars, inflation, and funding winter for start-ups were among the decelerating factors. Brazil and India are now the fastest growing adex markets, it says.
FMCG continued to dominate adex, with 33 per cent share of ad spends in 2023. E-commerce followed with 11 per cent. HUL, Reckitt and RIL were the top spenders.